Areas

As
organizations matures their use of assessments they will focus on one or
more of the three Areas to move from a lower to a higher level of
maturity. This section explores each of these Areas in more depth, with
the aim of helping organizations identify and respond to the challenges
of successfully deploying assessments (either internally or externally)
consistently, predictably, cost effectively, efficiently, and reliably.

Within the three Areas there are some key issues to be concerned with:

Development
(of Assessments)

Assessments are developed to be of high quality.

Assessments will move from being inefficient and random in the first
phase of the model to being efficient and predictable in the fourth.

Delivery (Management)

Assessments delivered securely, consistently and reliably.

Delivery will move from being insecure, inconsistent and unreliable
in the first phase to trustworthy and predictable in the fourth.

Presenting Results (Reporting)

Assessment results delivered securely to the right person using
informative presentation

In the first phase, results will be difficult to obtain and interpret.
In the last, they will be aligned with organization goals and fully
actionable.

More on Development

Create and maintain assessments to be:

Secure, valid, reliable, and defensible are the
attributes to help stakeholders to trust the results. Focus on these
attributes promote the creation of defensible assessments resulting in
sound decisions.

Security is a vital component of effective
assessments. It is necessary at all stages, from authoring and
scheduling to delivery, reporting and analysis. Protecting assessment
content, administering assessments appropriately, and storing results
effectively maintains the integrity of the assessment program and helps
maintain stakeholders’ confidence in it.

Valid and reliable assessments measure what they are
intended to and consistently measure the same thing over time, during
multiple administrations. We can put our trust in such assessments,
which in turn give us consistent, trustable data. Reliable harvesting
and analysis of information leads to valid analysis based on
statistically valid principles.

This requires:
Clearly established objectives. Does the organization want to enable
learning, retention and/or performance? Is the objective to measure
knowledge skills, abilities and/or attitudes? Or is related to
compliance? Does the organization need to harvest data and represent
results to demonstrate compliance?

Items that are on topic, cost-effective and appropriate: Careful thought
must be given to questions, choices, scoring mechanisms, accommodations,
and media such as graphics, sound and video.

Defensibility is essential when it comes to granting
degrees, hiring, promotion, demotion and firing, because the actions
require that evidence be available to show that the assessment works in
sympathy with the job role or course curriculum. In the area of
accreditation and regulatory compliance this means that the data
gathering and reporting provide evidence of compliance

Efficiency is an important aspect of Assessment
development to ensure continued engagement of Subject Matter Experts and
other Stakeholders.

Subject Matter Experts, Producers, consumers and stakeholders within an
organization and within the extended organization have jobs to do, or
studies to complete, so the assessment process should serve stakeholder
needs rather than distract them. Time, money and energy should not be
wasted in the assessment development process. Work flow processes enable
predictable production of high-quality deliverables. Accurate estimates
of costs, deliverable and timescales help organizations gauge a
project’s viability. Deliverables need to be on time, within budget and
consistent with the organization’s requirements.

Effective development of assessments is required to
allow an organization to reliably analyze the expected benefits of
proposed projects and end up with the results they need by the time they
need them.

More On Delivery

Deliver the right stimulus with the right levels of security to harvest
data appropriately and effectively. This part involves numerous people
(mostly candidates, respondents, participants, etc); good communications
to set expectations and predictable processes to enhance satisfaction are
key to success.

More on Presenting Results

Presenting Results to the right person, in the right context, with the
right presentation and at the right time in a fast-paced world is
essential. Excellent information delivered too late has little or no
value. It is simply too late! And information that is not analyzed
accurately or delivered appropriately is likewise wasted. Analyzing data
appropriately and delivering it using the right presentation, using the
right analysis, to the right person at the right time is achieved by:

Collecting the results and using statistically sound
principles to calculate useful and meaningful statistics.

Representing data in a way that empowers the audience
and the organization, providing guidance based on sound and informed
interpretation.